What do you hope to achieve at the end of it? What makes you truly happy? What are your objectives, priorities and concerns in life at this stage? What more do you want to accomplish? How can you live life to its fullest? Call it a mid-life crisis if you want, but these are some of the questions I've been pondering about this year.

While blogging will likely always be a part of my life because I feel that it is ingrained in me to want to pen my thoughts and write about my life experiences, it has taken a backseat recently because I've realised that it took over my life so much in the past few years that I might have lost sight of some of my other passions in life.

The month of July was a good time for me to start thinking about my life direction and what I wish to do with the limited time I have for myself every day. Actually, on some days, I practically have none but at least I do get some moments to think about life before I go to bed every night. Do you think a lot like me too? In this post of "Happiness is...", it's about finding my inner compass and reigniting my passion.

I guess most of us are familiar to the word KidZania since this indoor family entertainment theme park opened its doors on our shore - the first ever to be located on an island - in April 2016. But did you know that KidZania, which started out in September 1999, now operates in 24 locations worldwide? In addition, it is also scheduled to open in cities like Paris, Johannesburg, Toronto in the next few years and will also be making its entrance into the United States very soon too.

For those who don't know, KidZania is a hands-on, interactive indoor theme park which is a replica of a real city - complete with buildings, boutiques, theatres, hospitals, nurseries, restaurants, streets and transportation vehicles. Children get to have fun and learn about different occupations through realistic role play under the guide of the Zupervisors. They also learn about money management by earning, or spending, KidZos - which is the currency in KidZania - while performing the activities. Yes, it's awesome that the kids get to understand how money is hard-earned and doesn't just fall down from the sky, and for them to be able to 'work' and earn their own salary, that makes it even better.

We've been to the one in Sentosa a couple of times and not surprisingly, the kids thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our visits. We would try to arrive early and be one of the last to leave just so as to fully utilise our day tickets and cover as many jobs as we could. During our trip to Bangkok (read about our kid-friendly itinerary), we dedicated a day to visit KidZania Bangkok since this would be the first overseas branch we set foot on and we knew it would promise a full day of fun and learning opportunities. Indeed, the day went tremendously well and was one of the best ways to end off our family trip. In this post, I will be sharing more about our experience, the activities we managed to try out and some of the highlights you can look forward to.

My preference for the type of hotel I stay in when I go on vacation has changed over the years. Back in the courtship days, we were trying to scrimp and save and since holidays usually mean sightseeing in the day and partying at night, we chose to go for budget hotels because all we needed was a bed to crash out. When the kids came along one by one and our living standards gradually improved, we grew inclined towards family-friendly hotels that are cosy, accessible, spacious and more than just decent.

On our recent trip to Bangkok, we stayed in Oriental Residence which seamlessly integrates luxury, elegance and comfort - in a way that won't cause you to burn a hole in your pocket when you choose to stay here. This being our first holiday with kids to the beautiful capital of Thailand, we were thankful to get to stay in the lavish two-bedroom suite which spans an impressive floor area of 120sqm, making it perfect for travelling families. More than just a hotel, it made us feel that we were living in a home away from home - and quite a luxury one, I must say.

In this post, I will share with you more about our accommodation at Oriental Residence and why it is one of our favourite highlights from the trip.

When I was doing research for our Bangkok trip, I came across both Safari World and Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World. It didn't occur to me that I should just choose one and forsake the other just because we only had four full days to spare. On the contrary, I was happy to include both attractions into our itinerary as knowing how much my kids love animals and marine life, it would be a much more enjoyable experience for them than going to museums or shopping malls.

It turned out that we spent over SIX long hours at Sea Life Bangkok. Yup, six! That is because these kids love to admire each and every exhibit and would not leave till they have spotted every species of fish there is to be seen. Considering that Sea Life Bangkok is the largest aquarium in South East Asia and spans an area of over 10,000sqm with hundreds of fishes on display, I guess it's no wonder that my kids had a blast and it was such a good thing that we made it here with lots of time to spare. In this post, I'll share with you more about our experience including the beautiful marine life we saw, the different zones to explore, the unique glass bottom boat ride and even a 4-D show that visitors can look forward to!

I always look forward to school holidays. Even though having three kids with me 24/7 can drive me nuts on some days, not that they don't when they come home on school days, I love the fact that we get to sleep in late, have brunch instead of early breakfast, go for late night shows and supper, be free to do anything in the day and evening, explore new places and see new sights, find time to catch up with friends and family, and just do things that bonds us together as a family.

I used to be the kind of mum who would try to bring the kids out to explore almost every day. Yup, not sure where that energy came from but I just wanted to bring them out to museums, Science Centre, kids' events, movies, Sentosa, Universal Studios, zoos and anywhere that promised a day of fun. Over the years, I've mellowed a little or perhaps, just grown wiser (and more tired) with age.

We don't need to keep ourselves occupied every second just to make the holidays count. We don't need to go to holiday programs or kids events because there are just too many of them. We don't need to do a lot or busy ourselves till we get exhausted in order to feel that we are not wasting the precious, free time we have. On the contrary, spending some of our days in the comfort of our happy home, doing nothing much but just enjoying each other's company, is something that I cherish so much more now. In June's "Happiness is...", it's about making the most of the holidays.

Sharing about our animal encounters in Safari World Bangkok where the kids had the chance to feed a tiger cub, where we could drive through the park and come up close with animals, where we watched an impressive dolphin show, where we fed the largest herd of giraffes in the world and where we entered a Tiger's Den and had tigers charging towards us. Yup, read these and more on the blog today and find out how you can enjoy discounts when you book your tickets on Klook too!

When we were planning for a holiday, we initially thought of flying back to Europe to reminisce the good old times but taking a family of five on a vacation that far just didn't seem that friendly on our pockets. It wasn't hard for us to decide that we wanted to bring the kids to a place that wasn't too near yet not far away so that we wouldn't have to spend too much on air tickets.

Bangkok was quit the obvious choice for us but as the only time the hubby and I had been to this capital city together was before we even got married, I had no idea if it would be a suitable one to visit with three young kids in tow.

Let's just say my perception of this city changed almost entirely after our visit because..... it turned out to be a fun-filled paradise for the little ones with all the family-friendly attractions. The kids had such a blast, thanks to our child-centric itinerary that didn't involve shopping or massages, and we are pretty sure that we will visit again in the near future.

"LIFE isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.It's about learning to DANCE in the rain."

You know, no matter how many happy pictures I might post on the blog and on social media, the fact is life is never a bed of roses for anyone. I face the same trials and tribulations that all mums do and some days can be more trying and tougher to get through than the rest.

May was a period filled with challenges and also a time when I found myself tearing up more than usual, to the extent that I started questioning if I was a good mum or if I was even doing things right as a parent in the first place. Yup, to be frank, I was sobbing into the pillow on Mother's Day itself because one of the kids broke my heart and it makes you realise that life doesn't give you a break just because you think it is a special day. Here's sharing more about my thoughts in this "Happines is..." post for the month of May.

I've been wanting to share about this for a long time. Here's a post talking about why mealtimes are so important for us, how they help us to bond as a family and why I keep stressing the importance of being device-free when we eat. It is imperative that as parents, we learn to wield this double-edged sword called technology in order to forge, not destroy, family bonds.

I don't feel guilty for watching Netflix or for eating takeaways but I know I'm one who has regretted the harsh words which come out of my mouth in a fit of anger and also at times felt like I wasn't being a fair mother.

The thing is, I realise my kids don't actually blame me at the end of the day - it's more of myself who can't get over it, I regret, I blame and I suffer from the guilt I inflict upon myself.

Here's a letter I think that the kids would WANT to write to me because this would be what they wanna tell me. That most of the time, "Mama, it's really okay". Do you feel the same too, fellow mums?